Waking Beauty

“Before every beginning is another beginning,” begins Rebecca Solnit’s Waking Beauty, or Eleven Times Upon a Time, which is a reimagining of the classic Sleeping Beauty. In Solnit’s transformation of the tale, the focus is instead on Maya, the sister who stayed awake. It includes everything magical about a fairy tale: a tone of whimsy, fantastical names, one of the fairies is named Marzipanzer Divisadero Primrooseveltundramama McIrritabittlepittlegram, and. The structure in which the story is told is akin to a more organized Dr. Seuss with the darling illustrations by Arthur Rackham and the silliness of a single sentence being spliced into sixteen individual lines, a majority of which beginning with the word, and. This is perfect for adults and children alike. The adults who experienced Sleeping Beauty as a child will reminisce, and children will be eager to point out the differences. And it’s in this way that it captures childlike wonder and excitement; there is a hurriedness to meet the protagonist and embark on this journey and warmth at its happy ending. From beginning to end, Solnit invites young readers to join her with their own tales, prodding them: “how many other stories are all around you?”